<html><body>Part 2<div><br></div><div>Bob</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#202020"> It’s strange how we talk about this –
this is the second time I’ve mentioned this this morning! – about body and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#202020">soul being sustained
as a way of describing what it is to have clothes and nourishment, at the very
least. It seems that such a description shows a parting from the Hebrew thought
that both body and soul were given to us by God, therefore for someone to
suffer in the body us for them to suffer in their souls also.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#202020"> This may be why Jesus was so devoted
to those whose physical needs were being ignored or trodden on. We saw that
damage was being inflicted on their souls also.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#202020"> Not just that, though. The man who
came to Jesus looking for a way to get the better of his brother – <b><u>HIS</u></b> soul was being challenged
too. In danger of contracting infection
which would pervade his entire life. He couldn’t simply switch off his
attitude, his beliefs, his goals when he walked into his home, or any other
place. It’s not possible to think oneself righteous on a Sunday, like the teacher
in that appalling Scottish rhyme, and become the exact opposite of it any other
time.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#202020"> Jesus saw that to act out of dividing
and conquering, rather than by reconciling, was to act out of fear. The man,
apparently, couldn’t trust his brother to care for him. In fact, there may have
been an even greater number of people whom he didn’t trust. Worse yet, there was, despite the ay the man
came to Jesus so obsequiously, worse yet, there was such strong evidence that
he didn’t trust God in the least. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#202020"> If the man didn’t get the split of
the inheritance he wanted, he may well have ended up like the farmer in the parable.
He may have had to watch day and night just to make sure that no one – not even
a starving woman, child or man – that no
one would take as much as a cup or an armful of the crop he felt was his and
his alone.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#202020"> This is what happens when fear is
allowed to live within us. Our whole being becomes me-centred. We can’t begin
to think of how others are living except to treat them as an enemy to be herded
up and kept as far away from us as possible.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#202020"> But Jesus came to break the control
of fear. Jesus came to help us set aside fear so that we might learn to be
empathetic towards others, so that our souls and theirs might be drawn closer
to what God wishes, and our bodies and minds become mirrors to reflect the blinding
joy that God has for us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#202020"> Indeed, our souls are not created to
be solid, like iron, as Mary Oliver’s first question asks. They’re to be impressionable.
They’re to be responsive. They, like all of creation, even grass, are to be
sharing and loving</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(29, 33, 41); background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">, no matter how we perceive another soul to be.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(29, 33, 41); background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> About
two weeks ago, Bishop Steven Charleston wrote: </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";color:#202020"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(29, 33, 41); background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> “In
light of the events in Baton Rouge, another in a string of tragedies tearing
the fabric of our nation, I simply invite all of us to reflect deeply on what
we can do, individually and corporately, to end the cycles of violence. Here is
a short list that may help us focus. We must organize faith communities to be
effective voices of reason. We must have a united front for reconciliation. We
must support all levels of leadership that are actively working for
constructive change. And finally, we must begin to see a national process of
healing begin between people of all walks of life. I know it will not be easy.
I know there are no quick fixes. But I also know that enough is enough. The
sorrow on all sides must cease.” <sup>7</sup> </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:#202020"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#202020"> Our souls have to be tender and
breakable, moth-winged, perfectly capable of sustaining us in flight, yet vulnerable
to those who choose to be predatory, who try to make us afraid, who try to draw
us from the love of God. There’s so much in the world, there are so many
people, who would even call on Jesus as a means to frighten us into giving up.
And, if fear rule, then all kinds of violence, all kinds of greed, all kinds of
power struggles will dominate our waking and sleeping hours, and we may be
extraordinarily hard-pressed to find ways to address even some of the issues
Bishop Charleston suggested.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#202020"> If our personal lives revolve around
insatiable desires, if everything is turned inward instead of outward, then
there is a breeding ground for fear. But if we are turned towards concrete
hope, to everyone within our communities, then our souls may be able to resist
the peril that focusing only on the self brings. It is this peril which Jesus
is trying to help us defeat. It is this peril which Jesus is trying to cure.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#202020"> St Augustine made a remarkably
obvious comment in one of his sermons fifteen hundred years ago. At least, it
seems obvious now. He wrote that the rich man “did not realize that the bellies
of the poor were much safer storerooms than his barns.” <sup>8</sup><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#202020"> Greed takes so many forms, but it
seems to hinge on the idea of power. Who has the power? How is it distributed? How
does it affect everyone? Is there equity in its administration?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#202020"> How much does it consume me, consume
you, to finagle, to cheat, in order to gain this power, especially when we pray
to “Our Father” every – every what? Day? Hour? – we pray: “for <b><u>YOURS</u></b> is the power.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#202020"> All that we have is ours – to steward
for God, for the benefit of all in creation. And the souls which are an
inseparable part of us, <b><u>MAY</u></b>
be imperiled if we do not take care.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#202020"> I began by saying there was bad news.
But there is good news. Jesus never tires of speaking to us. Jesus is the
forever lover of our souls, who will walk with us always. We simply need to pay
attention.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#202020"> There’s a saying attributed to John
Wesley. <sup>9</sup> Whether or not he did, it sums up what is important. “</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(29, 33, 41); background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the
ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the
people you can. As long as ever you can.”</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:#202020"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">NOTES:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> <i>“Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes”</i> by
Kenneth E. Bailey. InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois. © 2008. Page
298.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif"">2</span></span><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> Bailey, Op. cit., page 298.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif"">3</span></span><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> Bailey, Op. cit., page 300. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 3pt 0.0001pt 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">4</span></span><span style="font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold">“Some Questions You Might Ask” </span></i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">by Mary Oliver, f</span><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">rom "House of Light" </span></i><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">Beacon Press, Boston, Massachusetts. Page 1. ©1990,
Mary Oliver. Also contained in <i>“New and Selected Poems, Volume One”,</i>
Beacon Press, Boston, Massachusetts. © 1992. Page 65.</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 3pt 0.0001pt 0in; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">5</span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> Bailey,
Op. cit., page 300<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif"">6</span></span><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> <i>“Away
in a manger”</i>, traditional carol. The Hymnal 1982, Church Penson Fund, New
York. © 1985. Number 101.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<h3 style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">7</span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-weight:normal;
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> <span style="color: rgb(29, 33, 41); background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Bp. Steven Charleston 17<sup>th</sup> July, 2016, 2:18 p.m.</span>
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#222222;font-weight:normal"><a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjwt87W95vOAhVH92MKHRXwDnUQFggiMAE&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fbishopstevencharleston%2Fphotos%2Fa.958768897541316.1073741828.958214517596754%2F1072864989465039%2F%3Ftype%3D3&usg=AFQjCNHE1n9NaBnGCkbyM7c3SC358l7z8g"><span style="color:#660099">Steven Charleston - Timeline | Facebook</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#006621"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/bishopstevencharleston/photos/a.../1072864989465039/">https://www.facebook.com/bishopstevencharleston/photos/a.../1072864989465039/</a>?.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">8</span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> <i>Sermon 36.9</i> by Augustine, quoted in <i>Luke</i>, Ancient Christian Commentary on
Scripture, ed. Arthur J. Just. InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Ill. © 2003.
Quoted in Bailey, Op. cit., page 304<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">9</span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjpsIiB_5vOAhUHw2MKHVVSC10QFggrMAE&url=https%3A%2F%2Fvitalpiety.com%2F2013%2F04%2F29%2Fwesley-didnt-say-it-do-all-the-good-you-can-by-all-the-means-you-can%2F&usg=AFQjCNGzaYlp8Lfmz6sryjSjXMayMlTIcw"><span style="color:#660099">Wesley Didn't Say It: Do all the good you can, by all the
means you ...</span></a><b> </b></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";color:#006621"><a href="https://vitalpiety.com/.../wesley-didnt-say-it-do-all-the-good-you-can-by-all-the-mean">https://vitalpiety.com/.../wesley-didnt-say-it-do-all-the-good-you-can-by-all-the-mean</a>... </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><o:p></o:p></span></p></div></body></html>